The driver’s car

Aston Martin Vantage (2020-2023) Models Covered: 5-door GT [4.0 V8] Introduction

VANTAGE. An evocative name for a magnificent bloodline of thoroughbred sports cars. For seven decades, the heartbeat of Aston Martin’s purest models, the Vantage nameplate has been worn by some of its most memorable designs – and the modern-era model launched in 2018 was another of them. In 2020, Aston lightly upgraded the car at the same time as introducing a Roadster convertible version and a more powerful ‘F1 Edition’ variant. It’s that post-2020-era updated version we look at here from a used car perspective, which sold until a more far-reaching model upgrade in 2024.

The History

If you can’t afford that top end exotic supercar, Aston Martin’s post-2018-era generation Vantage could be the next best thing. In fact, it may even be better. And here we’re going to find out why.

For seven decades, the Vantage nameplate had been the heartbeat of some of Aston Martin’s purest models and was first used in 1951 on a high-output engine option for the DB2. The Vantage quickly became a model in its own right, history highlights including the William Towns-designed V8 Vantage of 1977 and a spectacular twinsupercharged V600 Le Mans model. Most familiar in the heritage line for potential customers though, will be the car the 2018-era version replaced, the V8 Vantage first launched in 2005. That was the first modern-era Aston to really catch the attention of the company’s German and Italian rivals, being relatively light, fast on its feet and desirably styled in both its coupe and Roadster guises. But both the V8 and V12 variants sounded faster than they actually were, build quality was patchy and the old fashioned VH chassis precluded the car from being able to match its competitors on track.

Astons never have been able to do that; turn up to a track day in one and you’ll be almost a celebrity, so rarely is the brand usually represented. But this post-2018-era model proved to be different. It was wilfully different from the brand’s other models, not only in the way it looked but also in the way it handled. It was the most serious driver’s car the company had ever made.

In the two years following its launch, Aston introduced a minor upgrade in 2020, creating the version of this car we’re going to look at here. As part of this update, the range expanded, first with a Roadster convertible version and then with an even more powerful F1 variant. A limited-run Vantage V12 Coupe model followed in 2022. The Vantage sold in its updated Coupe and Roadster forms until early 2024, when more substantial range upgrades were introduced. Let’s check out the used proposition offered by 2020-2023 versions of this rejuvenated Vantage.

What You Get

This modern-era Vantage was launched in 2018 in Coupe form, then two years after, an open-topped Roadster version arrived. By 2020, for Coupe and Roadster customers, there was the alternative of a more powerful ‘F1 Edition’ version, recognisable by its larger 21-inch wheels, carbon fibre detailing, a unique vaned grille design and a substantial aero package including a bigger rear wing.

There’s much to like once inside. It’s a cockpit that shrinks round you far more than it does in a DB11 – as you’d expect it might given this Vantage’s 101mm reduction in wheelbase. You sit 10mm lower than you did in the previous pre-2018-era model - which helps with the immersive feel - and grasp a flatbottomed race-style stitched wheel, complete with huge aluminium paddle-shifters. Through it, you view a single-dial instrument binnacle, the colours of which change depending on drive and suspension mode selections made respectively via tabs on the right and left wheel spokes. An 8-inch Mercedes-sourced infotainment screen might look like an iPad hammered into the dash, but it works well enough and the fit and finish just about meets the exclusive standard required of an exotic super-sports car of this price.

What To Look For

This post-18-era Vantage was much better built than its predecessors, but you still need to be careful – and insist on a fully stamped-up service history. Based on our ownership survey, here’s some things to look out for when perusing used examples. It’s worth getting a specialist inspection of the underside of the car as the protective panels fitted have to be taken off to check the condition of the underbody. Make sure you inspect the boot and the cabin carefully for damage to the trim and the leather. Otherwise, it’s just the usual things – like scuffs and scratches in the huge, expensive wheels.

On The Road

You’ll want this Vantage to be fast: it is. The intoxicating soundtrack and the exhilarating roar under hard acceleration makes this car feel supercar quick; in fact, the performance figures from the 510PS Mercedes-AMG-sourced V8 wouldn’t have been out of place in a fully-fledged supercar just a few years back. Thanks to a thumping 685Nm of torque (developed from just 2,000rpm), 62mph from rest can flash by in just 3.6s if you’re quick with the deliciously tactile aluminium gearshift paddles. And, for brave or foolhardy owners who have a runway, a racetrack or a de-restricted autobahn to hand, maximum velocity is reached at 195mph.

By the 2020-2022 period, there was a choice of various Vantage derivatives: this standard model in manual or auto forms, the alternative Roadster convertible with the same V8 engine, the alternative ‘F1 Edition’ Coupe and Roadster variants with power uprated to 535PS; or even the rare V12 Vantage, which had a fearsome 710PS at its disposal. Here though, we’re going to concentrate on the version most will choose, the standard 510PS V8 Vantage Coupe.

Overall

There’s something rather soulless about the clinical perfection of a rival Mercedes or Porsche that you just don’t get here. And it’s one of the reasons why you’ll find a Vantage simply overflowing with the kind of special feel you’ll want in the sports car you’ve dreamed of owning all your life. More sophisticated than a MercedesAMG GT, more exotic than a Porsche 911, it’s brilliant and it’s British. Enough said.